Nutrition & Dietetics Department News, Summer 2025

An update from the Chair

We have had another great year filled with student and faculty successes. I hope you enjoy reading about them throughout this newsletter. Nutrition & Dietetics (N&D) has built upon a culture of excellence and professionalism to grow our presence on campus and positively impact the greater community in positive ways related to food and nutrition. N&D started off the year with Drs. Swanson and Villano hosting a nutrition-focused physical exam training event for preceptors and our faculty and staff hosting alumni and students at a social at FNCE was a highlight of the conference experience. Students and faculty took part and presented important research and scholarship in teaching happening at UND. Notably, we were UND proud when alumni, Jami (Lee) Rokala was a featured speaker at the conference, sharing her work overcoming eating difficulties in children.

Our research and scholarship work is ramping up thanks to the leadership of Dr. Johnson and passion for advancing the field held by all faculty including Erin Lauckner, Dr. Bodensteiner, Dr. Swanson, and Dr. Villano. Focus areas for this past academic year include: geriatric nutritional health, nutrition focused physical exam, campus food insecurity, food access and health, and AI in teaching and recipe development. Dr. Johnson was the invited speaker for the campus Pack the Pantry event. N&D faculty shine sweeping the college faculty awards for AY 2024-2025. The Teaching award recipient was Dr. Swanson, and Dr. Johnson was recipient of both the Service and Research awards.

Erin Lauckner partnered with faculty from the College of Education and Human Development to host an Earth Day event featuring a variety of educational opportunities for UND students including Dietetics students presenting on food sustainability topics. These students also shared their important work recently at the North Dakota Nutrition Conference. Several graduate and undergraduate students were outstanding representatives of N&D, contributing to research (presentations and manuscripts) and community nutrition education through various campus, state, and national events. They couldn’t do this important work without the expertise and advisement of our indispensable team of faculty.

Academic programs continue to be responsive to workforce and education demands. Drs. Bodensteiner and Swanson collaborated to develop a Human Nutrition (BSHN) – Master of Science combined program option with 6 credit hours counting toward each degree. Dr. Danielle Villano will assume a new position as Interim Graduate Program Director, managing the Dietetics program and distance MS students. We appreciate Dr. Anne Bodensteiner’s amazing work over the past 6 years with the MS in Nutrition to establish a strong culture of student-focused excellence.

Congratulations to this year’s Wenberg Preceptor Award Recipients

N&D extends our heartfelt thanks to the incredible preceptors who supported our students throughout the 2024-2025 academic year. Your guidance and mentorship make a lasting impact!

Congratulations to Michelle Fundingsland and Rondee Boe Feltman, this year’s Wenberg Preceptor Award recipients.

Read more about the award, our amazing recipients, and opportunities for preceptor development and CPEUs.

2025 Nutrition & Dietetics Program Updates

Human Nutrition

The Human Nutrition program continues with two options. One focuses on health promotion, and the other focuses on the sciences, which serves as a pre-health option. The program has evolved to be offered either online or on campus, which is appealing and offers more flexibility for students. This is the first semester that more online students are enrolled in the program than on campus.

Recently, as mentioned in the MS nutrition degree update, undergraduate students will be able to complete a combined BS in human nutrition/MS in nutrition degree. The combined BS/MS will allow students wishing to pursue a master’s degree in nutrition at UND to take up to 6 credits of dual-counted courses in their graduate degree and count them toward their MS degree.

In this academic semester, we are happy to have 14 students enrolled in the BSHN, with two graduating.

Dietetics

Master’s in Nutrition and Certificate in Health and Wellness Coaching

Our graduate program continues to evolve in response to the changing field of nutrition. Starting fall 2025, the online MS program will offer more flexibility for students. Rather than having unique specialization tracks in nutrition science or nutrition education and counseling, we have removed those options thus allowing students to take more nutrition elective courses to personalize their degree. Additionally, undergraduate students will be able to complete a combined BS in human nutrition/MS in nutrition degree. The combined BS/MS will allow students wishing to pursue a master’s degree in nutrition at UND to take up to 6 credits of dual-counted courses in their graduate degree and count them toward their MS degree.

We continue to offer the Graduate Certificate in Health and Wellness Coaching that prepares students with the educational requirements for the NBHWC national exam. One curriculum change was made to provide additional support in coaching practice and coaching calls. Students who begin in the summer of 2025 will take a practicum course in the spring instead of the nutrition education and program planning course.

In this academic year, we will celebrate 10 MS graduates and three completions of Health and Wellness Coaching certificates.

Student Association for Nutrition and Dietetics

This year S.A.N.D was able to meet 11 times over the Fall and Spring semesters. This included eight main meetings, two mentor-mentee study sessions at the end of each semester, and one social. The meetings over the year included guest speakers, Jami Rokala, Makenna Marek, Jenn Haugen, and Danielle Schindele. Additionally, we discussed many volunteer opportunities in the community for our members to partake in. Career services joined us to discuss resumes, cover letters, and other professional documents. By offering this to our members, we were able to set them up for success in many realms, especially for applying to the ABM program. Within the fall semester, many members of S.A.N.D were able to attend the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo in Minneapolis, Minnesota. S.A.N.D. was able to help with partial reimbursement fund through the Student Organization Funding Agency.

The spring semester included team building activities such as a potluck, nutrition-focused game, and interpersonal game to become more familiar with each other. Specifically, we were able to host a food drive in the month of April, coinciding with the Earth Day event hosted in the Education building at UND. Hugo’s did sponsor two gift cards, as a drawing prize for participating in the food drive.

These highlighted events show the dedication and effort that S.A.N.D. officers and members put forward this year. It was a successful year, in which the club was able to reach both the community and UND students to foster a positive learning environment and “family” within the Nutrition and Dietetics Programs.

Research Updates

Dr. Bodensteiner

It’s been a busy year for student research and two MS students finished their own thesis research projects.

Lauren Steiner investigated nutrition interventions used by patients who have Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder. Her project was titled: Nutrition Implications in Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (HEDs)/Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD).

Sophia Dunlap studied nutrition education needs for the Blue Zones Project in Grand Forks and her project was titled: Get in the Zone: Utilizing a Food Skills Survey to Assess the Education needs of a Blue Zones Project Community.

Dr. Swanson

Three students completed their independent study research with Dr. Swanson.

McKenzie Moe studied literature on dietary patterns specific to impacting female reproductive disorders as measured by changes in c-reactive protein. Her project was titled: Dietary Patterns and Their Effects on C-Reactive Protein Regarding Female Reproductive Disorders.

Kathryn Trochman investigated how almonds, a simple accessible snack, can impact recovery following activity. The title of her narrative review is: The Role of Almonds in Exercise Recovery and Athletic Performance.

Quinn Hilner explored circadian rhythm and nutrition impact in the adolescent population. The narrative review is titled: The Role of Chrononutrition in Adolescent Physical and Mental Health.

Dr. Villano

This Fall, 17 preceptors joined Dr. Swanson and Dr. Villano on campus for a Nutrition-Focused Physical Exam workshop worth 4.5 continuing education hours that involved a day of learning and hands-on simulation practice. The day included best-practice tips, training for an assessment tool to evaluate student competency, and the opportunity to network with other dietetic preceptors.

Danielle provided two poster presentations at FNCE in Minneapolis, MN this year. She shared her dissertation work in Advancing Nutrition and Dietetics Students’ Preparation for Clinical Practice through Simulation-Based Learning Experiences and a collaborative project with Dr. Swanson Improving Preceptors’ Self-efficacy for Nutrition-Focused Physical Exams and Malnutrition Diagnosis Through a Simulation-based Training Program. Additionally, Danielle collaborated with Dr. McGrath of NDSU to bring a new simulation activity to ND 310: Nutrition Assessment students through the study, How Didactic Education and Training in Handgrip Strength Testing Impacts Nutrition Students’ Nutrition-Focused Physical Exam Readiness.

Dr. Johnson

Over the past year, Dr. Johnson’s research has continued to explore the intersection of nutrition, public health, and equity — particularly in aging populations and rural communities. He published two peer-reviewed articles examining the role of food access and dietary patterns in mental health outcomes across rural and urban North Dakotan populations, and how factors such as living alone and limited mobility influence diet quality in older adults. Additionally, he presented work on UND student food insecurity at national conferences, collaborated on projects related to fall risk and visual acuity, and have multiple manuscripts in development, including a narrative review on Head Start children’s dietary exposure.

Dr. Johnson’s commitment to community-based research has also led him to be invited to give talks on nutrition and mental health, maternal wellness, and food sovereignty, including a keynote at the UND “Pack the Pantry” campus food drive event. He continues to lead and support funded projects such as the Nourish Program and the Geriatric Wellness Enhancement Program, while actively engaging students in ongoing research on food security and local food access. Through partnerships with tribal colleges and state agencies, Dr. Johnson’s work aims to create actionable knowledge that supports healthier, more equitable food environments for all.

In addition, Dr. Johnson was the winner of both the 2024-2025 Tenure Track Research and Scholarship Award and the Distinguished Service Award.

Student Awards

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